The treacherous attack of Amalek, striking against the weak and helpless,
was not a one-time enmity, a grievance from our distant past. God
commanded Moses to transmit the legacy of our struggle against Amalek
for all generations:

“God told Moses, ‘Write this as a reminder in the
Book, and repeat it in Joshua’s ears: I will totally
obliterate the memory of Amalek from under the
heavens....’ God will be at war with Amalek for
all generations.” (Ex. 17:14, 16)

Erasable Writing

The evil of Amalek invaded every aspect of the universe. Even holy
frameworks were not immune to this defiling influence. Therefore, they
too require the possibility to be repaired by erasing, if necessary.

For this reason, the Talmud (Sotah 17b; see YorehDei'ah 271:6)
rules that scribes should
not add calcanthum (vitriol or sulfuric acid) to their ink, since calcanthum-enhanced
ink cannot be erased by rubbing or washing. All writing — even
holy books — must have the potential to be erased, as they may have been
tainted by sparks of evil.

An extreme example of a holy object that has been totally
contaminated is a Torah scroll written by a heretic. In such a case, it must
be completely burned by fire (Shabbat 116a; YorehDei'ah 281:1).
Usually, however, holy objects only come
in light contact with evil, and it is sufficient to ensure that the scribal ink is
not permanent, so that the writing has the potential to be erased.

The Unique Torah of Rabbi Meir

However, we find one scribe who did add calcanthum to his ink: the
second-century scholar Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Meir was a unique individual.
The Talmud states that there was none equal to Rabbi Meir in his
generation. His teachings were so extraordinary that his colleagues were
unable to fully follow his reasoning. Because of Rabbi Meir’s exceptional
brilliance, the Sages were afraid to rule according to his opinion (Eiruvin
13a-b).

The Talmud further relates that Rabbi Meir’s true name was not
Meir. He was called Meir because “he would enlighten (me'ir) the eyes of
the Sages in Halachah.” What made Rabbi Meir’s approach to Torah so
unique? His teachings flowed from his aspiration to attain the future
enlightenment of the Messianic Era. Because of this spiritual connection
to the Messianic Era, the Jerusalem Talmud (Kilayim 9:3) conferred upon
him the title “your messiah.”

Rabbi Meir had no need to avoid using calcanthum, since his
Torah belonged to the future era when Amalek’s evil will be eradicated.
On the contrary, he took care to enhance his ink, reflecting the eternal
nature of his lofty teachings.

Rabbi Akiva, on the other hand, taught that scribes should not
avail themselves of calcanthum. In the world’s current state, everything
must have the potential to be erased and corrected, even that which
contains holy content. Only in this way will we succeed in totally
obliterating Amalek and his malignant influence. Then we will halt the
spread of evil traits in all peoples, the source of all private and public
tragedy.

Uniting the Oral and Written Law

The influence of Amalek had a second detrimental effect on the Torah.
God commanded Moses to communicate the struggle against Amalek in
two distinct channels. Moses transmitted God’s message in writing -
“Write this in the Book” — and orally — “Repeat it in Joshua’s ears.” The
refraction into divergent modes of transmission indicated that the Torah
had lost some of its original unity.

Consequently, the Talmud rules that a scribe may not write from
memory, not even a single letter (Megillah 18b). Our world maintains an
entrenched division between the written and spoken word. Only with the
obliteration of Amalek and the redemption of the world will we merit the
unified light of the Torah’s oral and written sides.

Once again, we find that Rabbi Meir and his Torah belonged to
the future age, when this artificial split will no longer exist. Thus, when
Rabbi Meir found himself in a place with no books, he wrote down the
entire book of Esther from memory.

In the time of Mordechai and Esther, when we gained an
additional measure of obliterating Amalek (with the defeat of Haman, a
descendant of Amalek), the Torah regained some of its original unity.
That generation accepted upon itself the Oral Law, in the same way that
the Written Law had been accepted at Sinai (Shabbat 88a).